Professional Education and Private Practice: Is There a Disconnect?

Abstract

This article summarizes results of a national study conducted to evaluate the private practice career intentions of MSW graduate student members of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) (n = 271), the extent to which these students are being prepared for private practice by the graduate schools, and the views of the graduate deans (n = 104) and macro practice (n = 152) and clinical (n = 278) members of NASW about private practice and social work education. An analysis of mailed questionnaire responses from these stakeholding groups suggests a striking disconnect between practice and education. Although a majority of graduate students plan to enter private practice, most on a full-time basis, graduate schools do not teach content specific to private practice careers, and many faculty even discourage the discussion of private practice career aspirations. On the other hand, a majority of NASW members, whether clinical or macro social workers, expected graduate schools to begin educating students for private practice. It is proposed that the labor force transition from the public to the private sector has resulted in the bifurcation of social work education. Implications for social work practice are discussed; short- and long-term initiatives for matching social work education to social work practice are proposed.

Social Workers in Private Practice: A Descriptive Study of What they do

“…Previous studies have examined such questions as: whether social workers have abandoned their mission and whether there was a place for private practice in the profession (Barker 1991a;Karger 1989;Specht 1991a, b;Specht and Courtney 1994), what the characteristics were of social work private practice (Brown 1990;Levin 1976;Reid 1997;Strom 1994b;Wallace 1982), whether training for private practice should have been a part of graduate social work education (Barker 1991b;Brown and Barker 1995;Green et al 2007;Kayser et al 1997;Specht 1991b), what motivated social workers to enter private practice (Jayaratne et al 1995;van Heugten 2002;van Heugten and Daniels 2001;Vinokur et al 1994), and what effects managed care has had on private practice (Gibelman and Schervish 1996;Keefe and Hall 1998;Strom 1994c).…”

“…The question of whether to include private practice in MSW curricula was one that had been extant since private practice was first acknowledged as a legitimate career focus by NASW in 1958 (Green et al 2007). Arguments against inclusion had to do with the view that private practice was inconsistent with the values of social work and the fact that social workers who had earned their MSW did not tend to enter private practice immediately upon graduation.…”

“…Those in favor of including private practice in social work education pointed to the above-mentioned benefits that private practice offered to the profession, and voiced concerns about not offering education about private practice, as it was an arena that many planned to enter (Brown and Barker 1995;Green et al 2007). While NASW has worked to develop standards for, and regulation of, private practice, ''the same recognition, legitimization, and accommodation to private practice, however have not been forthcoming from the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), the accrediting body for schools of social work'' (Green et al 2007, p. 152).…”

“…In addition, in clinical practice, there has been a dichotomy and a debate about whether to focus on populations-at-risk through agency work, or on the ''worried well'' in private practice (Epple 2007;Levin 1976;McLaughlin 2002;Specht and Courtney 1994;Wallace 1982). It appears that the pendulum has swung over time from valuing micro pursuits to valuing more macro pursuits, and to valuing agency work over private practice work (Green et al 2007).…”

“…Despite this pendulum swing, recent literature has pointed to a steady increase in social workers who choose to enter the field of private practice (Brown 1990;Strom 1994b;Gibelman and Schervish 1996;Green et al 2007). This has many implications for the profession.…”